Chinese lawyer for underground church flees to Taiwan, rights group says

Taiwan has provided temporary accommodation to a Chinese citizen after a rights group said Ruth Wang, a lawyer for detained leaders of Beijing’s underground Zion Church, fled to the island seeking protection.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council did not identify the person in its brief statement Friday. It said a Chinese national transferring through a Taiwanese airport had received temporary accommodation on humanitarian grounds and that authorities were following up on the matter.

ChinaAid identified the person as Wang, a partner at Beijing’s Vdoor Law Firm. The group said she had arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday. It said Wang and her family left China because they feared increasing government pressure connected to her legal work and representation of detained Zion Church leaders.

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Wang and her family left China because of concerns about increasing government pressure related to her legal work and representation of detained Beijing Zion Church leaders.

Zion Church is one of China’s unregistered churches, which some Christians attend instead of state-sanctioned churches regulated by the government. Church members, including founder Ezra Jin, were detained in October on suspicion of the illegal use of information networks. China released Jin, also known by his Chinese name Mingri, in July after US President Donald Trump raised his case with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

ChinaAid said eight of the Zion Church members detained in October remain in custody. The group said authorities have intensified pressure on unregistered churches in recent months. China’s ruling Communist Party has historically viewed organized religion with suspicion, and scrutiny of unofficial groups has tightened under Xi Jinping.

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temporary accommodation on humanitarian grounds and is following up on the matter